AU Nations 'will not Arrest Bashir'

Al-Bashir has been accused of war crimes and
crimes against humanity in Darfur
​

African nations have said they will no longer co-operate with the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrant issued against Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, delegates have said.

At an African Union (AU) summit in Libya on Friday, heads of state reportedly agreed to repeat their call for the UN to reconsider the attempted prosecution of al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Thirty African states have signed the Rome statutes creating the court, and have treaty obligations to arrest Bashir if he travels on their territory, but Friday's decision effectively allows him to travel across Africa without fear of detention.

The summit was expected to formally announce its decision later on Friday, but a copy of the agreed resolution was obtained by the Reuters news agency.

"[The AU] decides that in view of the fact that a request of the African Union [to defer al Bashir's indictment] has never been acted upon, the AU member states shall not co-operate persuant to the provisions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute of the ICC relating to immunities for the arrest and surrender of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir to the ICC," it said.

'New world terrorism'

The UN Security Council can ask the court, via a resolution, to suspend investigations or prosecutions for 12 months, under Article 16 of the Rome Statute.

The text was backed by Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader and current AU chief, who has said the international court in The Hague represents a "new world terrorism".

Gaddafi's position has received widespread support from many countries who felt the court was unfairly targeting Africans.

"We have been a little unhappy about the whole process, how this matter came before the ICC," Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Ghana's foreign minister, said before the final decision was taken.

"The AU actually addressed a resolution to the security council asking the SC to defer the warrant for one year, and it was virtually ignored. That we thought was a slap," he said.

"We thought that as Africans, and having a clear understanding and a clear interest in the interest of peace in the Sudan and in Darfur, we thought that was a matter [where] the Security Council should have listened to Africa, at the very minimum."

Bashir was indicted over his alleged role in the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, which the UN says has killed up to 300,000 people and displaced an estimated 2.7 million.

Khartoum disputes the figures saying that only 10,000 people have died since ethnic minority fighters rose up against the Arab-dominated government and its allies.

July 5, 2009 (WASHINGTON)  The government of Botswana criticized the decision by the African Union (AU) granting a continent-wide reprieve to the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from arrest pursuant to the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.On Friday, the leaders of 30 African countries that have ratified the Rome Statute issued a resolution in Sirte, Libya announcing that they will not honor their obligations under the convention relating to apprehension of ICC indicted individuals.
The Sudanese foreign minister spokesperson Ali Al-Sadiq said that Bashir is now free to travel to any African country without fear of arrest.
Al-Sadiq further said the decision is binding to all African countries without having to wait for the parliaments to ratify the resolution.
But the Botswanaian foreign minister Phandu Skelemani made surprise statements suggesting that the resolution was forced upon its members.
Skelemani said he tried to make his countrys stance known at the summit and had his hands up for a comment, along with many others, but the chairman of the AU Muammar Gadaffi chose to close the question.
At the summit it is not everyone who spoke. We had our hands up, but one member moved that the question should be put, he said to Agence France Presse (AFP).
African diplomats said that the Libyan backed text was agreed to at the foreign ministers level through a vote and at the leadership meeting with a consensus.
Consensus usually means unanimity, but in this case there was some dissent," said Benin Foreign Minister Jean-Marie Ehouzou, who said objections by Chad or others would likely be added as caveats to the final summit declaration.
The Botswanaian official said that the position of his government on the issue was clear.
Before this summit Botswanas stance was made public. We said we will hand Al-Bashir over to the ICC if ever he came to our shores, Skelemani said.
The ICC was established specifically to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community by, for instance, prosecuting those suspected of committing genocide, crime against humanity and war crimes, Skelemani said.
The people of Africa and Sudan in particular have been victims of these crimes. Botswana strongly holds the view that the people of Africa, including the people of Sudan, deserve to be protected from the perpetrators of such crimes, he said.
The Rome Statute which forms the basis of the ICC puts legal obligation on the members states for the apprehension of individuals wanted by the court if he arrives in their territories.
This year Botswana and South Africa have publicly announced that they will apprehend the Sudanese head of state if he visits. However Djibouti and Comoros Island announced that they will not honor their obligations under the Rome Statute.
But the Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson suggested that South Africas stance has changed.
Maybe at one point, the new South African government expressed some negative views ... As South Africa was part of the decision at Sirte, it implies that this means he would be able to travel there Al-Sadiq said.
The legal aspects of the decision at the Sirte summit are unclear. International treaties ratified by a state are binding in whole unless it decides to withdraw from it altogether.
The London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoted the South African president Jacob Zuma as saying that the African stance on the issue did not change against the ICC adding that peace be achieved in Darfur before thinking about reaching a decision on Bashir.
Darfur rebels and human rights organizations condemned the decision saying it grants impunity to a war indicted individual.
In 2004 the UNSC formed a UN commission of inquiry to look into Darfur abuses headed by former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Italian Antonio Cassese.
The five-member commission included three African figures from Ghana, South Africa and Egypt.
The commission concluded that the government did not pursue a policy of genocide in the Darfur region but that Khartoum and government-sponsored Arab militias known as the Janjaweed engaged in widespread and systematic abuse that may constitute crimes against humanity.
They further said that Sudanese judiciary is is unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes and thus recommended referring the situation to the ICC.
The UNSC issued resolution 1593 under chapter VII in March 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC. At the time Tanzania and Benin voted in support of the resolution while Algeria abstained.
(ST)